"The dog is being provided medical care by Animal Care & Control of NYC and is in a stable condition at this time," said Richard Gentles, a press representative for ACC, which contracts with the city to rescue and care for homeless and abandoned pets.

No word just yet on the condition of the dog's unnamed owner, who reportedly was homeless and suffered from epilepsy.

Meanwhile, Gothamist hears from an NYPD spokesperson who confirmed that officers discharged pepper spray on the dog before shooting it. Per Gothamist:

"Pepper spray in no way would ever be effective in subduing a dog," says Doug Halsey, the director of Ready For Rescue, a non-profit animal rescue group. "I only see this as heightening the animal's aggression. This was an ignorant and irresponsible approach on these officers' part."

Witnesses have said that the dog was protecting his owner, who may have been unconscious at the time of the police response.

19 comments:

How can you even call this guy a dog owner? Any responsible dog owner won't get drugged out to the point of a seizure. He doesn't give a crap about the animal, just the $ it brings in to make him look more pathetic. I pray the dog doesn't end up in the hands of the animal abusing crustys. This is sickening.

""Pepper spray in no way would ever be effective in subduing a dog," says Doug Halsey, the director of Ready For Rescue, a non-profit animal rescue group. "I only see this as heightening the animal's aggression. This was an ignorant and irresponsible approach on these officers' part.""

Doug, did it ever occur to you the responding officers didn't want to harm or shoot the dog in the first place? They needed to get to the man they were trying to help. If I was the officer, I'd have pepper sprayed the dog first as well, so it could be slowed down a bit with the intention of collaring / caging it.

What exactly would you have done Doug? Told it to sit and hope for the best??? Your statement is ignorant and irresponsible and you shouldn't be speaking on behalf of Ready For Rescue. Back to your desk.

Hard to believe dog survived. Look at that photo with the dog's legs gone stiff.

Also, pepper spray would further irritate a dog? Maybe. But also disable it, no? I mean, if you travel out West, they advise "bear spray," which is basically a large and powerful dose of pepper spray.....

“One woman in her 50 or 60s decided she was an animal lover. That’s how she described herself to investigators,” the source said. “She felt she could walk up to the dog and determine what was going on without agitating it. Well, that didn’t work.”

and then:

“She’s bitten a bunch of our friends,” she said. “But now the first time it bites a yuppie, they shoot it? It shows that they’re not really there to protect and serve. They just protect and serve the rich.”

So now women in their 50s or 60s are Yuppies? Let me guess, every guy wearing a button-up shirt is a "frat douche" as well.

The cop didn't kill the dog, the effing crusty did. I'm surprise noone mentioned the fact that the dog wasn't even on a leash!!!! Wtf?! The saddest part about this is that the dog died but that crusty gets to live another day; it should've been the other way around. I'll be sure to spit at him when he returns to that corner in a few days.

Flipper - you and I seem to be the only ones who think that. Do what you want to yourself Crusty, kill yourself with drugs, kill your self period. However, leave poor animals out of it. Every time I see these people with an animal it ruins my whole day. Crusty's suck.

Shooting that dog was outrageous. They could have easily called animal control and had the dog impounded and then attended to the owner. The city can do better and do more regarding the homeless in Tompkins Square and these animals they drag around that are no better off than those human owners.

i am absolutely positive that NYPD trolls are implanted to post pro-NYPD commentary all over all of these blogs (especially gothamist where it is a widely know occurrence) posing as regular citizens in order to sway public opinion. Often they are the first commentors; they sit around waiting for press so they can jump on it. The NYPD's #1 task these days (other than protecting the rich as well as apparently dog shooting and protestor abuse) is MIND CONTROL.be aware.

I'm a dog lover but I agree that the blame lies with scumbag crusties who can't take care of themselves and then rope some poor pit bull into their pathetic lifestyles. I work for a non-profit and get called "yuppie scum" by these people when I ignore their demands for 5 dollars or however much they need for their next dose of smack. Sucks for the cop who ended up having to make such a terrible quick decision because of this guy.

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